


A Disease Called Love

by tin2lo



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: F/M, Fever, Post Series, Zutara, Zutara Week 2016, zutara steam babies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-22
Updated: 2020-03-22
Packaged: 2021-02-28 21:27:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 843
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23263945
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tin2lo/pseuds/tin2lo
Summary: Their youngest son has a fever and it's up to Zuko to diagnose the problem.  There are just some things waterbenders can't heal.
Relationships: Katara/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 206





	A Disease Called Love

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Zutara Week 2016 
> 
> Day 5: Fever
> 
> Moved from my Tumblr

“Shouldn’t you be talking with your mother if you think you have a fever?” Zuko looked at his thirteen year old son from across his desk.

“But I did go to mom first! She checked me over and then told me to come to you,” Lu Ten said in distress.

Zuko eyed his son up and down. “Why would she send you to me?” Lu Ten was his and Katara’s third child and in all their years married with three children, Katara was always the first person to treat the kids. She had emphasized that she would be the one to raise and take care of her family. Not a nurse or nanny. So why did Katara send their sick son to him? Just because Lu Ten was a firebender didn’t mean she couldn’t check him for a fever.

Lu Ten shrugged “I don’t know. I told her I’d been feeling really warm lately and just weird overall. So she looked me over and then told me to see you. She said you’d know what to do.”

Zuko leaned back in his chair and rubbed his chin in thought. Maybe what Katara was referencing was his internal battle with himself back when he was a teenager. Uncle had told him about the fever taking an intense hold on his body as he faced his demons. Zuko looked at his son again. The boy was only thirteen. The baby of their family. Was he already going through an internal struggle about destiny?

“Tell me son, have you been questioning yourself lately? Or maybe struggled with your choices?”

Lu Ten looked at his father confused. “Umm…I don’t know, maybe? Sometimes I guess.”

Zuko tried to think. What could his son be having an internal struggle about? Zuko tried to think back to all of the things he had to struggle with. Lu Ten was an exceptional firebender so it couldn’t have been failure issues. He had a great relationship with his sisters. He and Katara had made sure to never put their children against each other. And despite being their only son, he was not the heir to the throne. So what was he struggling with?

“What exactly did you say to your mom?” Maybe if he knew what he and Katara spoke about, he could figure out what Katara was thinking.

Lu Ten took a deep breath. “Well I went to her and I told her that I thought I had a fever. She felt my forehead and she told me that I didn’t have one. But dad I did! My face was really hot just a few moments before I went to see mom. And my hands were all sweaty and my stomach felt weird.”

A realization suddenly hit Zuko. “When your fever hit, did you happen to be around the Water Tribe Ambassador’s daughter?”

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Katara was sitting by her vanity, brushing her hair when her husband walked in. He came up behind her and put his hands on her shoulder, smiling at her in the mirror.

“So I managed to diagnose our son’s illness.”

“Did you?” Katara answered back with a playful smile on her face.

He nodded, a smirk gracing his features. “His fever was apparently caused by the daughter of one of the visiting ambassadors.” Zuko leaned down and whispered into Katara’s ear. “But you already knew that, didn’t you?” He said before kissing her on the cheek.

Zuko turned away and began stripping off his Fire Lord robes. “I can’t believe it. Thirteen years old and already our son is thinking about girls.”

Katara turned around from her vanity to face him. “Wasn’t this the age when you and Mai started having a little fling.”

“Those were different times. She was one of the only kids, let alone girls, close to my age around the palace.” Katara just rolled her eyes. “I can’t believe you sent him running to me the moment you realized it.”

She put her hands on her hips and raised an eyebrow. “Hey this was a father/son thing. I already had to deal with it twice with Izumi and Kya.”

Zuko began to lay down on the bed. “You shouldn’t have to deal with it all because there’s no way boys will ever get near enough to my girls for them to ‘get a fever’.”

Katara could only laugh at his denial and overprotectiveness. “Izumi’s the heir to the throne.”

“Our line can die with her,”. He said in complete seriousness.

Katara let out another laugh as she began to lay beside him. She wrapped her arm around his torso and stretched her body to place a kiss on his cheek. “You know, I still get a fever when I’m around you,” she whispered in his ear.

Zuko smiled as he looked down at her. “It must be contagious then because I feel the exact same way around you.” He leaned down and placed a kiss on her lips.

It seems that there were just some diseases a master waterbender couldn’t heal.


End file.
